Sweethearts, Soybeans and Solitaire
by Bandit3
Summary: (Ch6 up! WARNING: NOT a Daikari...) Valentines' Day is coming, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining...TK and Kari are *fighting*?!! Okay, so it's never happened, but it's Davis' dream. And this year, he's got a tricky plan! This can't be good...
1. Setsubun

*^* Sweethearts, Soybeans, and Solitaire *^*  
  
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit  
__________________________  
  
A Note- Setsubun is a Japanese holiday, celebrated on Feb. 3, during which the children run around the house throwing roasted soy beans into the corners and yelling 'oni wa soto', which is Japanese for 'goblin go away', or something like that. The idea is to get rid of all the bad spirits of the past year and invite good luck into the house for the next year. Most people don't believe in it anymore, but they still do it, like how we do Halloween even though we don't believe in Frankenstein and Dracula.  
  
*^* Chapter 1- Setsubun *^*  
  
"Oni wa soto!" Kari yelled, throwing a handful of roasted soybeans into a corner of her room. Tai poked his head through the door.  
  
"Still not out of those things?" he said with a smile. Kari gave him a thumbs-up.  
  
"Nope, I've still got a bunch left. Want some?"  
  
He shrugged. "Sure, why not?"  
  
"Aren't you a little old for Setsubun?" Kari said, handing him some soybeans.  
  
"You're never too old to throw food," Tai said, popping a bean into his mouth and heading out of the room, crunching away. A minute later, she heard him bellow, "Oni wa soto!" and a minute later the rattle of beans hitting the wall in the kitchen.  
  
The doorbell rang, and Kari hurried to answer it. TK had promised to come over and help her do her Valentines, and she didn't want Tai to get there first and keep him talking for ages about sports. She threw open the door...  
  
"Hi, Kari!" Davis exclaimed.  
  
Kari froze mid-grin...and then inspiration shot through her mind.  
  
"Oni wa soto!" she yelled, and threw her handful of beans at the startled boy. They bounced off of his face, rolling around the floor.  
  
"Oh, very funny," Davis said, crossing his arms.  
  
"I try," Kari said with a smirk. Davis, to her surprise, said nothing in return, but paused, looking suddenly nervous. "What?" she snapped. Her patience with Davis was not high at this particular moment. He twisted his toe in the carpet, not meeting her eyes.  
  
"I...uh...I was wondering if, um, if you would..."  
  
"Hey, Kari, who's here?" Tai said, sticking his head through the doorway from the kitchen. Kari saw opportunity and seized it by the throat.  
  
"Oh, hi, Tai! Davis just stopped by to talk about soccer! Why don't you two go in the living room and...and bond, or whatever it is guys do?"  
  
Tai grinned. "Sure! Hey, Davis, did you see that game against the Phoenixes?"  
  
Before Davis could protest, he was steered into the living room. Kari silently congratulated herself.  
  
*Now if Tai can just keep motor-mouthing away at him until TK shows up, my problem is solved!*  
  
And at that moment, another knock sounded at the door. Kari spun around and flung the door wide.  
  
"Hi, TK!"  
  
"Happy Setsubun!" TK said, stepping through the door and reaching into his pocket to pull out a bag of soybeans.  
  
"Oh, perfect! I used up my last handful on Davis!"  
  
"You exorcised Davis?" TK said bemusedly, staring at her. He shook his head, grinning. "Oh, I would have paid to see that!"  
  
"Yeah, well, he and Tai are 'bonding' in the living room, so with any luck I won't need to do it again for a while. Still, we'd better get to work while we can. You did bring the stuff, didn't you?"  
  
TK held up his bag and gave it a rattle. Patamon poked his head out, with a bottle of glue in his mouth.  
  
"Wrdy!" the little Digimon said around it. Frowning, he spat it back into the bag, and repeated himself. "We're ready!"  
  
"C'mon, then!" Kari grabbed TK's hand and pulled him into her and Tai's shared bedroom before Davis could spot him and go on the warpath.  
  
The two kids settled down quickly, spreading art supplies across the floor. Kari grabbed scissors and paper and began to cut out hearts. "So, how many do you need?"  
  
"Thirty-four," TK said, folding more paper into cards. "One for each teacher, one for Mom and for Matt, and one for each kid in my homeroom. How about you?"  
  
"Thirty-seven," Kari said. "Same people at school, but also for my bus driver, Mom, Tai, and Sora."  
  
TK frowned, counting. "Kari, that's only thirty-six people."  
  
Kari blushed. "Never mind, thirty-six, then." *I can make his on my own,* she reminded herself. *It's better if it's a surprise, anyway.*  
  
"Okay, that's seventy. At least it's a nice even number," TK said. "Let's get cracking, or we'll be here until May."  
  
"I think we'll be ok," Kari said, giggling. "It's Setsubun today, and Valentine's is the fourteenth, so that gives us plenty of time."  
  
"With any luck it'll only take today," TK said. "Hey, Patamon, help us out here!"  
  
The little Digimon poked its head over the edge of Kari's bunk. "What am I supposed to do? I don't have any hands, remember, TK?"  
  
"You can pick things up, though. How about putting glue on my hearts?" Kari said.  
  
"Okay!" Patamon agreed cheerily, and flapped down off of the bunk. Gatomon sauntered through the door.  
  
"I'm always glad to help, of course," she said with a catty smile. "As long as it doesn't involve getting glue or markers on my fur."  
  
"You can cut me more hearts, Gatomon," Kari said, handing her some scissors. "You, um, can do that, can't you?"  
  
"Of course I can," Gatomon said, picking up a piece of paper and getting to work. "Is there anything I can't do?"  
  
"I bet you can't squirt milk out your nose," Patamon said.  
  
"So, once we get these all made, we can put the names on, and split them up," Kari said, industriously sticking hearts on cards as fast as TK could fold and Patamon could apply glue.  
  
"Milk out my nose?" Gatomon said in utter disgust. "What a crazy idea. Where did you hear about that, the tabloids?"  
  
"Sounds good," TK said. "Hey, Patamon, mind handing me some more paper?"  
  
"Here you go. I saw TK do it once when Kari told him a joke," Patamon said.  
  
"No way! Eewww!" Gatomon said. "Oh, darn, look at that. You made my scissors slip."  
  
"Aw, Gatomon, you're ruining all the paper!" TK complained, spotting the pile of shredded paper and discarded hearts next to the cat. "Cut that out!"  
  
"I am cutting it out," Gatomon insisted. "Patamon, there's no way he shot milk out of his nose!"  
  
"Here, I think some of these are still fixable," Kari said, setting down her card and picking up the remains of Gatomon's efforts. "See? If you make them a little smaller, they look just fine. We can put two in different colors on each card."  
  
"Yes, he did!"  
  
"He did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"I saw him!"  
  
"No, you didn't!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"I DID, OKAY? NOW BE QUIET!" TK yelled, losing his patience.  
  
There was a stunned silence, which was finally broken by Gatomon.  
  
"Okay..."  
  
Kari burst out laughing, and the rest of them joined her.  
  
Back in the living room, Davis perked up his ears to listen to a faint noise over Tai's endless stream of soccer babble.  
  
"Funny...I thought for a minute that I heard..."  
  
Suddenly, his eyebrows snapped together into a scowl. Leaping up and ignoring Tai's confusion, he hurried out of the living room and into the hallway, putting his ear to the door of Kari and Tai's room. From inside bubbled laughter; Kari's cheerful giggle, Gatomon's purr...  
  
The very boyish chuckles of a boy and his Digimon.  
  
"TK, you hurt my ears!" That was Kari, still giggling happily.  
  
"Sorry, Angel Wings. I guess that stage projection thing Matt taught me really works."  
  
"Maybe you should sing, too!"  
  
"Nah, he'd cover the audience with milk." More laughter.  
  
"TS..." Davis whispered angrily. "I can't believe it! How long has he been here?" Davis considered bursting in and confronting them about their low-down, dirty secrecy, but then remembered that this was Kari's house and she could do whatever she darn well liked.  
  
Still scowling, he stomped away and was out the door before Tai could even finish asking him, "Where do you think you're going, you haven't heard who won yet!"  
  
"That darn TP," Davis muttered as he stormed down the sidewalk on the way home. "I'll bet that he was there all along! That's why Kari was so eager to get rid of me-she wanted to get back to talking with her stupid lover-boy! Why does he have to ruin everything I do? Stupid PK, I'd like to 'Angel Wings' him right in the mouth!" As he reached his apartment, he was greeted by Demiveemon.  
  
"Hiya, Davish! How'd it go?"  
  
"Awful," Davis groaned, clumping into his room and flopping down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't even get a chance to ask her about the dance! She just sicced Tai on me and ran off to talk to TQ!"  
  
"Well, they do sheem to be very good friendsh," Demiveemon said hesitantly. Davis sat up and glared at him.  
  
"Oh, you're a big help."  
  
"I just don't know much about humansh, Davish," Demiveemon lisped with a sigh.  
  
"Well, I don't care how good of friends Kari is with that...that dumb blond! I'm going to ask her first! There's no way she's going to the Valentine's dance with TH!"  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^* 


	2. Too Late...

*^* Sweethearts, Soybeans, and Solitaire *^*  
  
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit  
__________________________  
  
*^* Chapter 2- Too Late... *^*  
  
"Sorry, Davis, but I'm already going with TK."  
  
"What?" Davis said, his voice cracking on a note that definitely proved he was entering puberty, as if his habitual behavior toward Kari hadn't already done that. "No way!"  
  
"Yes way," Kari said absently, rummaging through her locker for her math homework. "He asked me on Saturday."  
  
"Butbutbut...but that's the day I came over!" Davis stammered.  
  
"Yeah, I know," Kari said, stuffing an armful of papers and books into her bag. "He asked me right after you left, in fact. Why?"  
  
Davis didn't answer. He was trembling in an odd, spasmodic way, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Kari blinked at him a few times, watching his face turn a rich shade of purplish-red, and then shrugged and walked away with her bag over her shoulder.  
  
"AAAAARRGH!" Davis yelled as soon as she was out of hearing range. "I can't believe that stupid TY beat me to the punch again! Gaahh..." He slammed his fist into the wall next to him.  
  
There was a ripping noise, and a piece of paper fluttered to the floor, torn from its tape. Frowning, Davis bent to pick it up, his anger forgotten as he scanned it absently. Suddenly, a figurative light bulb seemed to go on over his head. His expression changed to one of intense interest, and he began to read it over carefully, a grin beginning to light his face. It was not a nice grin; in fact, it rather resembled a shark's right before it attacks a nice large tuna, or car tire, or fat swimming lady, or whatever it is sharks eat. However, it *was* a grin of great confidence and deviousness.  
  
"Hmm..." Davis said. "I think I've just thought of a tricky plan..."  
  
By the time he finished running home, he was panting and out of breath. Veemon met him at the door.  
  
"Davish, what's wrong?" he said, looking worried. "You're all out of breath, and I think your face is leaking..."  
  
Reaching up to wipe sweat from his forehead, Davis held out his piece of paper.  
  
"Look at this, Veemon!"  
  
Veemon blinked. "I can't read, Davish."  
  
"Oh, yeah." Davis plunked down in a chair and read the poster out loud. "It says, 'Valentine's Day Ads! Don't miss your chance to tell that special someone just how much you care about them in the February issue of the OMS Oracle. 50 yen for a small spot, 100 for a big one! Get your submissions in by February 9th to the journalism room!"  
  
"Oh, how cute... So?" Veemon said.  
  
"So, this could be my big chance to get Kari to go to the dance with me!"  
  
"But...she's already going with TK, isn't she?" Veemon said now thoroughly confused.  
  
"Yeah, but not for long! Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Veemon?"  
  
"Um, I think so, Davish...but what does Neil Diamond have to do with the world's biggest banana split?"  
  
"Never mind. You wouldn't understand my tricky plan anyway."  
  
"Oh! You made a tricky plan? Good for you! What's it about, Davish?"  
  
"I already said! I'm going to get Kari to go to the dance with me, thanks to these ads!"  
  
"Yeah, but...how? Are you going to ask her in an ad? 'Cuz, I don't think that's gonna work very well..."  
  
"No, Veemon," Davis sighed in exasperation. "The ads won't come out until the day of the dance, anyway. No, my plan is much more tricky than that! Those ads can be signed, and I'm going to do a little impersonation! Oh, I'm so smart I scare myself..."  
  
"What a coincidence," Veemon commented. "You're starting to scare me, too."  
  
"Be quiet. I'm going to go put this tricky plan into action!"  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^* 


	3. A Good Tricky Plan Is Hard To Find

*^* Sweethearts, Soybeans, and Solitaire *^*  
  
A Digimon Fanfic by Bandit  
__________________________  
  
*^* Chapter 3- A Good Tricky Plan Is Hard To Find *^*  
  
The hallway outside the door to the Odaiba Middle School Oracle office was deserted, it being four o'clock in the afternoon.  
  
Well, not quite deserted. A purple-poof-topped, begoggled head peeked from around a corner for a moment, looking down the hall, and then disappeared back out of sight.  
  
After a short pause, a skinny boy in a blue-and-white striped shirt and khaki shorts jumped dramatically into view, landing in a half-crouch and searching the corridor for would-be 'attackers' in an attempt at true James Bond style. Satisfied that no one was there to witness his amusing antics, Davis flattened himself abruptly against the wall with a *thump*, his arms stretched out on either side of him.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Oh, sorry, Demiveemon," Davis said sheepishly, and eased out from the wall a little bit. The small blue head of his Digimon's in-training form poked out of his backpack.  
  
"Be more careful, Davish!" he admonished.  
  
"Shh!" Davis hissed, shoving Demiveemon back down into the depths of the backpack. Inching along on tiptoe, he reached the door, stopped, checked the hallway again for intruders, and slowly stretched out his fingers for the doorknob...  
  
And, of course, the door opened.  
  
"Oh, hi, Mr. Y-Davis?!"  
  
"Kari!" Davis yelped, quickly hiding the envelope in his hand behind his back.  
  
"What are you doing here?" they exclaimed at the same time.  
  
"I just finished developing some photos for the Oracle," Kari said suspiciously. "What about you?"  
  
"I'm...uh..." Davis floundered for an excuse; he hadn't anticipated anything like this happening!  
  
"Well?" Kari said, crossing her arms.  
  
"It'sh shimple!" Demiveemon said helpfully, popping up again from within Davis's backpack. "Davish'sh delivering a-"  
  
"-A message, for a friend!" Davis said hurriedly, using his free hand to shove his Digimon back into the backpack and zip it closed. "A very important message, for a very good friend of mine! Very important! Thank you ever so much, Demiveemon..." he added under his breath, gritting his teeth.  
  
"Very important, huh?" Kari said, looking skeptical. Davis nodded so forcefully that his goggles nearly flew off his head.  
  
"Oh, yeah! Very, very important! In fact, I think I'll just go and, uh, deliver it...right now!" With that, he ducked into the Oracle office, slamming the door in Kari's face.  
  
"Ohhh-kay..." Kari said uncertainly, frowning. A beeping noise distracted her, and she looked down at her belt to the D-Terminal she wore. "Oh, shoot, I forgot all about the pizza parlor with TK and the others! I'd better run!" With that, she took off down the hallway without a backwards glance.  
  
Inside the office, Davis hurried over to the biggest desk in sight. A metal filing basket set on the corner of it was labeled 'Valentine's Ad Submissions Here'. Dropping the envelope into it, he grinned and clapped his hands together.  
  
"There! Now I just sit back and wait for my tricky plan to unfold!" he jubilated.  
  
Demiveemon spoke up from inside the backpack.  
  
"Well, that was shuprishingly eashy. Are you sure thish will work, Davish?"  
  
"Hey, it's fool-proof, Demiveemon. All the best planners are simple, remember?"  
  
"Um, Davish, I think the shaying ish, 'All the besht *plansh* are shimple.'"  
  
"Close enough. Now let's get out of here before Kari or somebody comes back!"  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^* 


	4. No Talking

*^* Chapter 4- No Talking *^*  
  
A week and a half later, the big day had come. Davis could barely pay attention to the teacher as he waited for second period and Literature. The lack of attention span was actually nothing unusual, but today it was worse than most days, for one major reason: the final unfolding of Davis' tricky plan.  
  
The Lit class was spending the period in the library. The significant part of this setup was that the librarian was handing out the Valentine's issues of the Oracle to the student body. Kari was in Davis' Lit class, and TK wasn't. Lit was therefore already the high point of Davis' school day, and usually spent making eyes at the back of her head while she did her schoolwork. Today it was going to be even better.  
  
Today he was going to finally triumph in his battle for Kari's heart!  
  
Grinning tremendously in a manner that made him look like Max from 'Sam and Max', Davis sat nonchalantly back in his seat and waited for the bell to ring.  
  
*brrrrriiiinnnngggg!*  
  
Leaping to his feet, grabbing his bag, and leaving a trail of overturned desks in his wake, Davis exited the room like a stampeding buffalo.  
  
Bursting into the library, he spotted the librarian handing out the white-and-pink copies of the Oracle. Slowing to a more acceptable pace, he 'casually' strolled up to the end of the line, whistling innocently with his hands clasped behind him. Several people turned to give him 'What-planet-are-you-from?' looks, which he, in his blissfully clueless state, failed to notice.  
  
As the line moved along, Davis was finally presented with his own copy of the Oracle. Snatching it from the librarian's startled hands, he charged across the library to the little table where Kari was sitting with her own copy and twin stacks of valentines, both a couple of inches tall.  
  
"Hey, Kari," he said cheerfully, taking a seat across from her.  
  
She glanced up, made a vague mumbling noise that could have been a greeting, a curse of baldness, or the first line of The Star-Spangled Banner, for all he could tell. Davis, of course, took it as an invitation to continue talking.  
  
"How ya doing?"  
  
Kari turned a page and answered with another vague mumble.  
  
"Having a nice Valentine's Day?"  
  
An unintelligible growly noise.  
  
"Are all of those yours?" he said, pointing at the stacks of valentines and knocking one of them over.  
  
"Hey!" Kari yelped, diving to catch the scattering red hearts and coming up with a handful or two as the rest littered the floor. Glaring at him, she knelt and began to pick them up.  
  
"Um...sorry..." Davis said, beginning to get down from his chair to help. "Here, let me get those-"  
  
"No!" Kari exclaimed in alarm. Davis froze, looking taken aback, and Kari sighed. "I...don't think that's a good idea," she amended, more gently. "Why don't you stay in your chair and...read the paper, instead?"  
  
With a shrug, Davis obliged. Kari kept picking up the brightly colored cards. Her hand brushed one with the characters for 'Motomiya Daisuke' scrawled rather carelessly on it, and she sat up and handed it brusquely to Davis.  
  
"Here, this one's yours."  
  
"For *me*?!" Davis said, sounding and looking euphoric. Kari rolled her eyes.  
  
"Yes, Davis. For you. Don't fall off your chair, okay?"  
  
Not catching the less-than-thrilled tone of her voice, Davis was clutching the card as though it were a winning lottery ticket. With a snort at his 7th-heaven expression, Kari stacked the last Valentine neatly onto its pile and sat down again, picking up her newspaper with a pointed leave-me-alone flourish.  
  
Davis hid his grin behind his own paper. Any minute now...  
  
Skimming the pages, Kari made her way through to the Love Notes. After all, she was an independent girl. She didn't really care if there were any for her. And she certainly didn't care if they were from anyone in particular! Not her...  
  
Oh, who was she kidding? With a smile, she turned to the Love Notes section.  
  
Scanning the pages, she began to worry. Not hers...not hers...nope...nuh-uh...no. A few of the notes were particularly sappy; a badly-written poem made her giggle. Her eyes lit on a short paragraph in one corner... As she read it, her smile began to fade.  
  
  
"A.K. I don't know how to say this, after so much time wondering if it's the right thing to say. But I've been thinking a lot about what I really want, and I realize now that this is like trading silver for gold. What I had was good, but you're even better. I love you, Angel Wings. Happy Valentine's Day. T.T."  
  
  
"'Angel Wings'..." Kari whispered, her eyes filling with tears as she stared, disbelieving, at the words on the page. The newspaper rustled as her hands began to shake, and Davis looked up, surprised by the depth of the betrayal on her face...  
  
Suddenly, Kari's eyes narrowed, and a loud crinkling of paper filled the room, as the pages were crushed in her suddenly clenched fists.  
  
"I'll give him 'Angel Wings'!" she cried angrily, and stormed out of the library, leaving the torn newspaper to lie on the table. Davis leapt to his feet to stare after her, as did several astonished students around the library.  
  
"No talking in the library," the librarian admonished her as she stomped past.  
  
"Oh, stuff it," Kari snapped, eliciting a shocked gasp from the bespectacled woman. The door slammed behind her in Davis' face as he tried to follow her.  
  
"Hey! Wait for-"  
  
*Wham!*  
  
"Me..." Davis moaned, falling backwards with a large red mark on his forehead where the door had hit him. Quickly recovering in true anime style, he scrambled to his feet and pushed the door open, following the trail of bewildered students to the door of the gym, the site of TK's second period class, Phys. Ed. He got there just in time to hear Kari's angry voice.  
  
"Who is A.K.?!"  
  
"Um...Airline Korea?" TK stammered, as Davis nudged past a crowd of curious PE students for a better view.  
  
"Nice try," Kari snapped, glaring at him. TK looked utterly confused.  
  
"What did I do?" he said, glancing around as if hoping the answer was printed in large type on one of the walls. No such luck. Kari stomped over to a watching girl and ripped her newspaper out of her hands, coming back and shoving it into his grasp.  
  
"Explain this," she gritted. TK skimmed through the text, looking more and more flabbergasted, his blue eyes widening at the end when he read the familiar nickname and his own initials signed to the note. Looking up from the paper, he stared at Kari, who was staring back at him.  
  
"Kari, I don't know who wrote this, but it wasn't me!" he insisted.  
  
"I'm supposed to believe that?" Kari snorted. "Who else knew about Angel Wings? I thought that was your special name for me, TK! How many 'Angel Wings' do you have?"  
  
"Just you!" TK retorted, beginning to look angry himself. "What, do you expect me to come out and confess that I've been playing you false?"  
  
"Why? *Should* I expect you to?" Kari snapped.  
  
"Kari, I thought you knew me better than that-"  
  
"So did I!" she cut him off, hurt and anger in her eyes. "And yet, here's a note from you to some girl! I hope she's pretty, TK, because if she isn't worth losing a friend over, than you just lost at your own game! I can't believe you did this to me!"  
  
"Why should you care?" TK exploded, losing it. "Why should you give a flying flip who I like?" Who did she think she was, barging in here and making him look like a jerk and an idiot in front of his friends? He completely lost sight of the fact that his choice of words was making it sound like he really *had* written the note. "Why is it any of your business?!"  
  
Kari stared at him, her eyes huge with shock. "Because...I thought I meant more to you than that. You said you cared about me, remember...?"  
  
TK's temper, hard to raise but dangerous when provoked, had slipped out of his control. Without thinking about what he was saying, he gave her a cold stare.  
  
"I thought I was a lying cheat. What makes you think I meant anything I said?"  
  
Kari's eyes filled with tears, her face crumpling. Then, suddenly, it contorted with the fiery anger of betrayal.  
  
A split second later, a ringing slap resounded through the gym.  
  
Davis winced, as did several other kids nearby, all glued to the spectacle. TK slowly reached up a hand to touch his reddening cheek, dazed. Kari looked from her still-raised hand to the staggered expression on her best friend's face, and for a fleeting second a horrified look passed across her face. Then, the tears in her eyes spilled over, and she fled the gym, her face in her hands. She barreled through the crowd, which parted like the Red Sea for the sobbing girl.  
  
Davis, shocked at how violently his tricky plan had backfired, tried to run after her, but the commotion had finally been noticed by a teacher, and she was doing her best to herd the kids back to their activities. The moving press of students blocked his way, and by the time the doorway was clear again, Kari was gone...  
  
*I just wanted her to like me,* he thought, stunned. *I didn't want to make her cry...* He couldn't even tell himself that TK deserved what he'd gotten; this time it was definitely his fault, and the wounded look on TK's face as Kari had run out the door kept flashing in front of his eyes...  
  
"Hey, Davis!"  
  
Startled out of his reverie, Davis blinked and realized that a friend of his, Yoshitada, was waving at him from out in the hallway. Eager to leave the "scene of the crime", he hurried over. 'Tada was easy to find; his spiky oxblood-red hair could have qualified him as a Coast Guard buoy.  
  
"What is it, 'Tada? I'm kind of busy..."  
  
"Well, if you're not now, you will be soon!" 'Tada said jovially, giving him a slap on the back.  
  
"What?" Davis said, confused. 'Tada stared at him.  
  
"Dude! You haven't figured it out? Now that that Takaishi guy blew it, you've got the best chance of anybody at being next in line! All you have to do is go say a few choice words, and she's yours!"  
  
"Huh...?" Davis murmured, blinking. That had actually been his plan...but he hadn't expected his plan to work so *well*! Most of his plans never worked at all... Could he still pull it off?  
  
"Go for it, dude! I'd do it myself, but..." he rolled his eyes, jerking his head toward a pretty blond girl gossiping with several friends nearby. "Aiko would blow up at me worse than Kari. And speaking of Aiko, I'd better go talk to her if I want to get the juice on what just went down. I missed the first part." With that, he strode off across the hallway, pausing to flash a thumbs-up and an encouraging grin at Davis.  
  
Frowning, Davis thought quickly. 'Tada's words weren't what one would call sympathetic, but the advice could turn out sound... And if the way he'd drifted out of the gym was any indication, going off to comfort Kari was the last thing on TK's mind. Yes, maybe he could get his plan back on track anyway! Grinning, Davis began to head off in the direction Kari had gone...  
  
The bell rang. Scowling, he doubled back toward his own third-period class. There wasn't time to find her, not unless he wanted to catch it for being tardy. *This isn't over yet,* Davis thought, planning furiously. *I've still got a chance, and if I don't take it, call me a chimpanzee! Phase two of my tricky plan is about to begin!*  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^* 


	5. Solitaire

*^* Chapter 5- Solitaire *^*  
  
Matt looked up from his homework, surprised, as TK barged in.  
  
"Hey, where have you been?" he inquired lazily, glancing at the clock. TK was usually home a good twenty minutes before this. He didn't really expect an answer; about to go back to his Algebra-Trig, he noticed something odd about TK's face before he turned away from him.  
  
"None of your business," TK muttered into the refrigerator, his voice muffled.  
  
"Are you okay?" Matt said, concerned.  
  
"I'm fine! Leave me alone!" TK blurted, whirling around. What the catch in his voice didn't tell Matt, his streaked face did.  
  
"You've been crying," Matt stated flatly. TK began to hurry away, trying to escape into his room, but Matt stood up and caught his arm. "Hey, TK, just tell me what...oh..." TK had whirled, furious, and at this close range Matt could see the mark that still faintly purpled his check. He whistled. "Ouch... Man, you got slapped. Hard."  
  
"Tell me something I don't know," TK said sullenly, trying to pull away.  
  
"Whoa, whoa, hold on a minute. Come on over here and sit down and tell me what happened. Maybe I can help."  
  
"Pigs might fly," TK said darkly, but allowed himself to be steered to the sofa. As they sat down, Matt took stock of the miserable look on his younger brother's face and the tears streaking his cheeks.  
  
"It was Kari, wasn't it," he said. TK sighed, and nodded. "Wow. You must have really screwed up; she's the most even-tempered girl I know."  
  
"I didn't do anything!" TK burst out, clenching his fists. "I swear I didn't! Some toad-sucking jerk put a love note in the paper under my initials!"  
  
"And?" Matt said, not sure why this was a problem.  
  
"And it was to some girl called 'A.K.'"  
  
"Which, the last time I checked, didn't stand for Kamiya Hikari. Not good. So, she slapped you?"  
  
"In front of half the school," TK groaned, letting his face fall into his hands. "And thanks to the usual gossip, I'll bet the entire student body now thinks I'm the biggest jerk alive since Adolph Hitler croaked."  
  
"Plus, Kari hates you?"  
  
"Plus, Kari hates me," TK sighed. "I don't know what to do. I didn't write that note, but how do I prove it to her?"  
  
"What makes her so sure you wrote it?" Matt said. "There's got to be more than one guy with the initials T.T. in your school."  
  
"That's what I don't get," TK muttered. "Whoever wrote it did their homework. They used my nickname for Kari in the note. Nobody knows it but her and me...and our Digimon, of course. Or at least, I *thought* nobody knew it but us..."  
  
"Nickname?" Matt said, curious. "Like what?"  
  
TK blushed. "Nglwgs," he mumbled into his hands.  
  
"What?"  
  
"'Angel Wings'," TK said irritably, looking up. "Got a problem?"  
  
"No..." Matt said dubiously.  
  
"Good," TK said, dropping his face again. "Because everybody at Odaiba Middle School has been laughing at me about it all day. It's good to know there's one person on this earth who doesn't think I'm a flaming idiot, on top of being a royal jackass."  
  
"Man...you've had it rough, haven't you?" Matt said sympathetically.  
  
"You don't know the half of it," TK lamented. "And the worst of it is, I as good as told her I hated her right back."  
  
"You're kidding," Matt said with a groan.  
  
"I wish. She called me a liar, or something like that, and I blew up at her and said if I was such a liar why did she think I meant what I said when I told her I cared about her..." His voice trailed off, and his shoulders slumped. With a heavy sigh, he settled onto his side on the couch, resting his head on his arm and staring off miserably at nothing.  
  
Matt, feeling helpless, did the only thing he could; he put his hand on his brother's shoulder and sat there, just trying to be comforting without saying a word...  
  
  
  
"Stupid TK," Kari muttered, pulling a card off of the top of her draw pile and looking at it. Two of spades. She placed it on the three of diamonds and drew another card. She'd been playing solitaire for most of the hour that she'd been home from school. "I can't believe he could be such a jerk..." She set the card, the nine of hearts, on the ten of spades and moved a stack of cards headed with the eight of diamonds onto the row. The queen of diamonds looked up at her, a delicate fairy; the deck was a very pretty one, decorated with mythical creatures, that Tai had given her last Christmas.  
  
Her gaze wandered up to the clock, which said three-thirty pm. *I would have been looking forward to the dance at seven,* she thought wistfully, but sighed, shaking her head. *And TK would have spent the whole time wishing he was off somewhere with his precious A.K. Why did he even bother to ask me to the stupid dance?* The thought gave her pause, and she frowned. *Come to think of it, why *did* he bother? It doesn't make sense...* She hugged herself, hoping that maybe she'd made a mistake...  
  
But what if she had? If that was true, then she'd just humiliated TK in front of dozens of people for no reason! He'd probably never want to speak to her again... She shivered. No, she couldn't have made a mistake like that. TK was just a two-timing jerk...  
  
"Kari? Kari, are you in there?"  
  
Tai, home from soccer practice. Screwing up her face, Kari hunkered down on the floor of their room, silent.  
  
"Kari, let me in. It's my room, too, and I need to change my shirt." No answer. "The door didn't lock all by itself, Kari. What, is TK over? You can go out to the living room for just a minute."  
  
"No, he is not over!" Kari yelled. "He will never *be* over! And furthermore, if I never see his face again, it will be one time too many! Now go away!"  
  
There was a pause outside her door, and then Tai spoke again, his voice firm but surprisingly gentle. "Kari, open the door."  
  
Leaning against the doorframe, Tai waited. There was silence inside their room, and then the sound of soft footsteps. The door opened, and Kari's face peeked out. Her brown eyes were swollen, and it was clear that she'd been crying.  
  
"You guys had a fight, huh?" Tai said, trying to be as consoling as possible. "Is it any of my business why?"  
  
"No." Tai waited. "Oh, Tai, he's the biggest jerk on the face of the planet!" Kari wailed. Tai sighed inwardly.   
  
*Here we go...*  
  
"He's been two-timing me with some girl called A.K.! And he had the nerve to put a love note for her in the school paper! A love note! And he called her Angel Wings! He always calls me Angel Wings! I thought that name was specially mine, but he just...he just..." Her throat tightened, and she had to struggle not to cry. "I thought he cared about me. I really did."  
  
"And maybe he does. Maybe it was a mistake."  
  
"No! That's what I'm afraid of!" Kari sighed. "I was so mad when I saw that note, I went and walked right into his gym class and yelled at him in front of everybody...and..."  
  
"And?" Tai prompted.  
  
"And I slapped him," Kari said in a very small voice. Tai stared at her, and she burst out with a rush of words. "I didn't mean to, I don't know what got into me, but he said he lied to me and I was so *mad* at him and I just kind of did it and then I felt so bad but he deserved it and-"  
  
"Wait a second," Tai interrupted. "He said he lied to you? About what?"  
  
Kari blushed. "A while ago...he told me that he...cared about me. And then today, he said that he didn't mean it, that he lied to me..."  
  
"And you slapped him," Tai said, with a sigh. "I can't say I blame you, but that really doesn't sound like him...or like you, in fact. You did this in front of his gym class?"  
  
"Yeah...and the news is probably all over the school by now..." Kari sniffed. "Whoever this A.K. is, I hope she's happy."  
  
"I don't think you can really blame her for-"  
  
"Tai, it wasn't my fault!" Kari said, her own doubts as to that question rising up to hunch, toad-like, at the back of her throat. His worried gaze choked her. "It wasn't!" The defensive tone in her voice made her wince inwardly, and it only solidified the look on her brother's face. "Stop looking at me that way!" she wailed, getting only his gentle hand on her shoulder. Twisting away, she stomped over to the closet and grabbed a T-shirt, stomping back and throwing it at Tai. "Oh, go change into something that doesn't stink!" she yelled, and slammed the door.  
  
Throwing herself down on the floor by her solitaire game, she grabbed the next card off of the stack with a force that bent it. "Stupid TK," she muttered, half trying to convince herself.  
  
*If he's so stupid, then why do you feel so guilty?* a little voice whispered from the depths of her mind. Pushing it away, she turned over the card.  
  
It was the queen of hearts.  
  
An angel.  
  
Kari flung the card across the room with a cry, as though it had become red-hot. It landed face-up, the flat eyes of the angel seeming to rebuke her from where it lay on the carpet. Staring at it, Kari's eyes welled up with tears; all the misery of the day and the guilt and fear in her heart came to the surface, and she buried her face in her arms and wept...  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^* 


	6. The Blame Game (Part 2)

*^* Chapter 6- The Blame Game Part 2 *^*  
  
Coming up to the Kamiya's apartment building, Davis adjusted his T-shirt, took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and reached for the buzzer. However, before he could press the button, he heard footsteps coming toward the door. Nervousness won out over common sense, and he ducked behind a bush to watch whoever was approaching make their approach.  
  
"I've got to get out of here," Kari muttered as she hurried along, her schoolbooks under her arm. "If Tai gives me that 'you-are-a-naughty-little-girl-and-you-have-my-pity' look once more, I swear I'll throw the nearest mobile object at his head..."  
  
She jogged past Davis without a glance at the hidden boy, proving exactly how distracted she was. A second later, Demiveemon poked his head out of Davis' backpack.  
  
"Sho, Davish, whadda we do now?"  
  
Davis grinned. "Elementary, my good Digimon. We improvise." With that, he stepped out of the bush, brushed a few leaves off of his shirt, and strolled casually down the sidewalk in the direction Kari had gone.  
  
Ten blocks later, Kari disappeared up the steps of the public library. Davis followed her at a distance, Demiveemon still stowed away in his backpack.  
  
"Huh...my plan started at a library, and it'll finish in one. Cool," Davis commented optimistically, and pushed the doors open.  
  
The inside of the library was dimly lit and a bit chilly. Davis glanced around and spotted Kari making her way to the reference desk. He strolled over to the desk and began to surf through the computer across from hers, carefully avoiding noticing that Kari was even there. After a few minutes, he saw her reaching for a box of note cards kept on hand for jotting down book locations and stretched out for it as well. Their hands touched, and Kari looked up.  
  
*Bingo...* Davis thought, surpressing a grin. *Just call me Doctor Smooth Love.*  
  
"Davis! I didn't know you were here..." Kari exclaimed in surprise.  
  
"Me neither," Davis said earnestly, then frowned. "Um, I mean, I didn't know *you* were here. Not...you know."  
  
Kari almost smiled, but didn't quite have the heart. It was kind of cute the way he slipped up sometimes. "I know." She realized their hands were still touching, and blushed, taking her hand away quickly. "So...what are you doing at the library? I didn't think you were much of a reader."  
  
"Oh, I just thought I'd browse around," Davis said off-handedly, shrugging. "I've got a project due next month in English, a portfolio on the Depression, and I wanted to get some materials." *Nice one!* he silently congratulated himself. He really did have a project due, and it was an airtight alibi if he'd ever heard one.  
  
"Me too," Kari said, cheering up a little. "Want to look for some books together?"  
  
"Would I?!" Davis said happily, and then paused and cleared his throat, trying to be smooth. "I mean, that sounds like fun...sure."  
  
Kari did smile this time. After a little catalog surfing, they headed for the bookshelves with a list of books to look at. The afternoon stretched on, and soon it was five o'clock and the librarians were giving the half-hour closing time warning.  
  
"This has been really fun," Kari said, smiling, as they carried their books to the counter. "We should do this again some time."  
  
"Yeah, I had a good time, too," Davis agreed. "Here, let me get those," he added, taking the stack of books out of her hands and adding them to his own. Kari blushed again.  
  
"Thank you. You know, I didn't expect anything good to come out of today, but...I'm glad I ran into you. After all of what happened with TK and all, I was miserable..." She sighed, and gave a rueful shake of her head. "Oh, look at me. I spoiled the mood completely."  
  
Davis shook his head. "No, you didn't. It's okay..." He paused. *Okay, lover-boy, here's your chance! Tricky plan, don't let me down...* "Hey, about TK..."  
  
"You don't have to get started on that," Kari said a little bitterly, turning away. "I know he's a jerk, I know he deserved it, I know that A.K. can't be half as pretty or nice as me...every girl in the school has been sympathizing with me all day, and so have a lot of the guys. I'm getting tired of it all." She sighed, looking at her hands, and then suddenly looked up at Davis. "You know what I'm afraid of?" she blurted.  
  
"Not really...why don't you tell me?" Davis said, trying to be understanding and kind.  
  
Opening her mouth, Kari paused, and then shook her head and began to walk toward the counter. "Never mind. You don't want to hear about it."  
  
"Really, I do," Davis insisted, with a disarming smile for good measure. "Come on, go for it." *Keep being nice and sweet to her, and then as soon as you get the chance, pop the question...*  
  
Kari nodded and walked over behind a bookshelf, wanting privacy. Once Davis joined her, she turned to face him, biting her lip nervously.  
  
"I..." she started, and then swallowed, looking at the floor.  
  
"You can tell me," Davis said, setting down the books so that he could put his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe if you say it, you'll feel better."  
  
Kari nodded, steeling herself. "Well..." She took a deep breath, and then suddenly blurted, "Oh, Davis, it was all my fault!"  
  
"What?" Davis said, quite stunned. How could she possibly think it was her fault?  
  
"I overreacted, Davis, I was a horrible brat and I made him look like such a jerk and I yelled at him and hurt him and I didn't even give him a chance!" Kari wailed, and began to cry again.  
  
Davis gathered her into his arms, rocking her gently and feeling lower than pond slime. *I don't deserve to get the chance to hug her...* he thought miserably. *How did this get so out of control?*  
  
"Shh," he whispered, trying to calm her down. "It wasn't your fault, it wasn't your fault at all. Believe me, it wasn't. You did what anyone would do. It's okay, it's okay..."  
  
Winding down, Kari sniffled, looking up at him with beautiful, teary brown eyes.  
  
"Davis, do you think I'm a brat?" she whimpered.  
  
Another pang of guilt shot through him. "Of course not," he said comfortingly, smiling at her. "I think you're just great."  
  
A watery smile appeared on her face. "Really?"  
  
"Really," Davis said firmly. He reached into his backpack, and Demiveemon handed him a handkerchief, which he handed to Kari. She thanked him, taking it and wiping her face dry.  
  
*It's now or never,* Davis thought, looking at Kari standing right there in front of him. Yoshitada's voice echoed in his ears. *"All you have to do is go say a few choice words, and she's yours!"* But then the image of TK's stunned face flickered in his memory, and the tears on the face of the girl he cared about so much added to the conviction growing inside of his mind. Taking a deep breath, he cleared his throat, and Kari looked up.  
  
"Hey, about the dance..." he began.  
  
Kari blinked. "Mm-hmm?"  
  
"Well..." *This is so hard!* "I...think that..."  
  
"What is it, Davis?" Kari said, looking at him in confusion. Davis took his resolve in both hands...  
  
"I think that you should go talk to TK before you decide not to go."  
  
"What?" Kari said, stunned.  
  
"You should talk to him," Davis continued, the words flowing freely now. "You know, hear him out? You really ought to get his side of the story. I bet it makes you both feel better, and it might fix things. That note could have been a mistake, or a practical joke, you know." He sighed, meeting her eyes with a serious gaze. "You two have something really special, and you shouldn't let something like that ruin your relationship." He smiled, and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. "Talk to him," he finished, putting a note of insistence into the words.  
  
Kari stared at him. "But..." she said nervously. "But what if he doesn't want to?"  
  
"Trust me, he will," Davis said firmly. "Like anyone could pass up a second chance with you..." His voice wavered, and he paused to get himself back under control. "And if he doesn't, then you're too good for him anyway...but I really think he's more mature than that."  
  
A genuine smile spread across Kari's teary face. "All right," she said. "I will. I'll go over to his apartment right now, in fact." She started to walk away, and then paused and turned back to him. "And, Davis?"  
  
"Yeah?" Davis said.  
  
"Thank you," she whispered, and gave him a peck on the cheek. With a smile, she took her books off of the pile on the floor, and darted away to check them out.  
  
Davis followed her with his eyes until she vanished through the doors, and then sighed, putting his hands in his pockets.  
  
"Well, Demiveemon, I think you'd better call me a chimpanzee now," he said ruefully. The little Digimon popped up out of his backpack to frown at him.  
  
"Why'd ya do that, Davish?" he asked, confused. "Ya had her ready to follow ya to the moon!"  
  
"I know," the boy said. "I just couldn't do it, Veemon. She trusted me... Me! The guy who made this mess in the first place!" He shook his head. "I couldn't do another thing to hurt her. I care about her too much for that." With an ironic shrug, he leaned against the bookshelf. "I guess the trickiest plan can get messed up by a soft heart...or a soft head. I think I did the right thing, though, and it's really about time."  
  
Smiling slightly, he blinked, and something on his cheek caught the light of the ceiling lamps.  
  
"Davish?" Demiveemon said uncertainly, looking at his human companion. "I think your face ish leaking again..."  
  
Davis shook his head, wiping his face on his sleeve. "Yeah...c'mon, Demiveemon, let's go get these books checked out. I've got a dance to get ready for."  
  
  
*^* *^* *^* *^* *^*  
  
  
Just a note...anyone who's a fan of mine might want to check my profile. Thankies! m_m 


	7. Sweethearts

*^* Chapter 7- Sweethearts *^*  
  
The Odaiba Middle School gym was overflowing with pink and white streamers and balloons. From the platform that had been set up against one wall, the Young Wolves were bashing out a rendition of Run Around that made the walls shake. The crowd of kids that filled the gym shook, rattled and rolled to the music, cheering and singing along as the lighting effects booth, courtesy of Izzy and a few of his friends, threw colored light around the dimly lit room. A laser-light traced red hearts and stars on the walls in swirling patterns.  
  
Coming over to the refreshments table, Yolei and Ken ran into a pair of familiar faces smiling from ear to ear as they shared a cookie.  
  
"Well, it's good to see that you two haven't killed each other," Yolei said cheerfully, helping herself to a glass of punch. "From the way you were carrying on in second period, I thought that mmphm ympha pmwa. Hm!"  
  
Ken smiled apologetically, one hand clamped firmly over Yolei's mouth and the other one reaching for a cookie. "Sorry, TK, Kari. I think Yolei has had enough punch for one day, don't you?"  
  
Yolei glared at him from behind his hand. He let go of her with a shrug. "Sorry, but you weren't being very tactful."  
  
"Oh, don't you start lecturing me on tact, Mr. Digimon Empawooph!"  
  
TK and Kari both began to laugh; Ken, thinking quickly, had 'shared' his cookie with Yolei. Wiping crumbs and pink icing indignantly from her face, Yolei tried to glare some more at Ken, but he just looked innocently at her with huge blue eyes. She sighed, rolling her own eyes melodramatically.  
  
"He's impossible to stay angry at," she confided rather loudly to Kari, who was still giggling. "It really isn't fair."  
  
"Don't come to me about your guy problems," Kari said with a smile. "Go dance or something, huh?"  
  
"Gee, why didn't I think of that?" Yolei said, glancing over at Ken rather pointedly.  
  
"Oh, all right, but don't say I didn't warn you," Ken gave in. "Good people have been badly hurt trying to dance with me, you know. She's been after me to dance all night," he added for TK and Kari's benefit, before he disappeared into the crowd with Yolei.  
  
TK had spent the conversation looking through the box of sweetheart candies he'd gotten out of one of the bowls of edibles that graced the table. As Yolei and Ken left, he grinned in triumph and took one out, slipping it into Kari's hand. She blinked, confused, and looked down at it.  
  
"My angel," she read, and smiled.  
  
"My *only* angel," TK added firmly. Kari nodded.  
  
"I know...and I'm really sorry, TK. I shouldn't have doubted you."  
  
"And I shouldn't have lost my temper, so we're even," TK said. "We've already been over this a couple of times-"  
  
"And we don't need to go over it again," Kari said gently, taking his hand. "You accepted my apology, and I accepted yours...and your word that you didn't write that note. Let's move on."  
  
"Right," TK said. Kari reached for the box of candies and dumped a few into her hand, looking through them curiously. Suddenly, a mischievous smile lit her face, and she chose one and handed it to TK.  
  
"As long as we're moving on..." she said with a slight blush.  
  
TK blinked, glancing down at it. "What? Oh..." he said, smiling as well, and leaned forward...  
  
The candy fell to the floor, landing word side up, declaring to all people present, 'Kiss me'.  
  
A hand reached down to pick it up, and the owner of the hand looked it over thoughtfully. Slipping it into his pocket, he took a seat a few chairs down, taking a box of the candies and fishing through it. Once he had the one he wanted, he sat back in his chair and waited.  
  
Finally, the two reunited angels surfaced for air. Kari spotted the familiar puff of purple hair first.  
  
"Oh, hi, Davis," she said, blushing a vibrant pink. TK half turned in his seat, and caught sight of his former rival.  
  
"Hey, Davis," he said with a friendly nod. "Who're you here with?"  
  
"I came stag," Davis said, shrugging.  
  
"Well, I hope you find a doe, then," came a teasing voice from behind him. Davis glanced over his shoulder.  
  
"Hi, Yoshitada," he said guardedly. The neon-haired boy waved to Kari and TK, as did the blond girl on his arm.  
  
"Hey, Davis. I'd stop to talk, but Ai wants to go make a request." He rolled his eyes, and Ai gave him a playful shove.  
  
"That sounds like fun," Kari said, standing up. "I think I'll come with you. Want to come, TK?" she said. He shook his head.  
  
"I think I'll wait here, thanks. The last time we went near the stage, I think I went temporarily deaf. I really don't want the condition to become permanent."  
  
Kari giggled. "Okay, then. I'll be right back." She hurried away after Yoshitada and Ai.  
  
"Hey, Davis?" TK said after they were out of sight.  
  
"Yeah?" Davis said, wondering what he was going to say.  
  
"Thanks," TK said, echoing the sentiment with his eyes. "Kari told me what you said. That was really great for you to do. I'll bet the temptation was pretty big to snag her for yourself."  
  
"You could say that," Davis admitted, not quite meeting TK's honestly grateful gaze.  
  
"Well, I owe you one. I'm not sure how the whole thing got so out of hand, but thanks for fixing things for us."  
  
"Oh, I didn't do anything," Davis protested. "You guys did all the fixing. I just gave you a push to get you back on track." *And I'm glad I did,* he thought. *She looks so happy...I know I did the right thing.* Getting up, he took a few steps away, and then stopped and turned back. "Hey, TK?"  
  
TK looked at him, surprised. *What, no TS or TG?*  
  
"Catch," Davis said, and tossed something to him before melting into the crowd.  
  
TK caught the object neatly and frowned, opening his hands to see what he held.  
  
It was a candy heart. The pink letters on it spelled two simple words.  
  
'Love her.'  
  
"Hey, TK, they're playing a slow song next," came Kari's voice from across the table.  
  
"Right," TK said, smiling at her. He glanced back down at his hands. *I will,* TK thought solemnly to the silent heart, and stood up, putting it in his pocket. He walked around to the other side of the table, taking Kari's hand with a heart-melting smile.  
  
"Come on, Kari. Let's go dance."  
  
Watching them from across the gym, Davis was wearing a wistful smile of his own. Veemon peeped out from under the bench he was sitting on.  
  
"Hi, Davish! Gatomon and some of the other Digimon are havin' a celebration in one of the classrooms. Cody and Izzy smuggled us in."  
  
"Good for you, Party Animal," Davis teased. "They've got plenty to celebrate." He sighed, leaning back against the wall. Veemon frowned.  
  
"I should probably get back there before someone sees me... Hey, I was wondering, though. What *did* A.K. stand for?"  
  
Davis shrugged. "What else? 'Another Kari'." He smiled ruefully. "I should have realized there could never be more than one of her. Kind of too bad, really."  
  
"Well, there's plenty of fish in the sea," Veemon pointed out. Davis snorted.  
  
"Really? Like who?"  
  
"Like that pretty redheaded fish watching you from over by the stage...oh, and if I were you, I would send Doctor Smooth Love on a vacation and just be your sweet self," Veemon said pointedly, and ducked back under the bench. Davis yelped, reaching fruitlessly under the bench after his Digimon and nearly falling on his head in the process.  
  
"Hey! Come back here, you goofy Digimon! Where do you mean...oh..." he said, looking up into a sparkling pair of green eyes. He blushed, and a smile spread across the girl's face as she brushed a strand of long red hair out of her eyes. *Right...just be myself. That's easy enough to do. No more tricky plans for me, thank you very much.*  
  
"Hi...my name's Chi," the girl said, a twinkle in her eyes.  
  
"Nice to meet you, Davis, I'm Chi," Davis blurted, and blushed furiously, clapping a hand over his mouth. "I mean...you know what I mean."  
  
"I know what you mean," Chi said at the same time, and giggled.  
  
"Um...want to dance?"  
  
"I'd love to," Chi smiled, taking his hand. They headed out onto the dance floor.  
  
Watching from the doorway, Veemon grinned. *Points to Davish, for sure. I wonder if the star-struck approach would work on Gatomon...* With that, he hurried away, leaving the human sweethearts to dance the night away.  
  
  
THE END  
  
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